Humidifier



Patented May 3, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,626,668 PATENT oFFrcE.

STUART w. Ciminna, or CRAMEMQN, AND wILLiAnI B. IIODGE, or Cnam.orilla,

NORTH CAROLINA, ASSIGN-ORS, BY HODGE COMPANY, OF CHARLOTTE,

CAROLINA.

DIRECT AND MEsNE ASSIaNIrIIIN'rS,4 '.ro wm; B. NORTH CAROLINA, ACORPORATION oF NORTH HUMIDIFIEB.

/ Application mea November 13, i925. serial No. 66,904.

This invention relates to ahumidiiier and more particularly to animproved apparatus by means of which a mist of water is created anddistributed throughout the surrounding atmosphere to be evaporatedtherein and which, at the same time, collects within itself the drops ofwater too large to be totally evaporated.

An object of our present invention is to provide an apparatus forhumidifying the surrounding atmosphere by means of which the water visdrawn up from its supply, thrown outwardly in the form of a mist of veryfine particles or drops into the surrounding atmosphere and disseminatedthroughout the atmosphere by means of a separate and independent andcomparatively forceful draft of air Ito which the mist 1s first thrownand totally evaporated therein. Another objectof our invention is to soconstruct the apparatus-that the particles of water which are too largeto be entirely evaporated in the surrounding' atmosphere will. falldirectly into the tank and into a local downwardly movingdraft or streamof air which positively carries them downwardly into the tank. Theselarger drops are thus prevented from being thrown from the tank onto thefloor.

With these and other objects in view the invention comprises theapparatus described and set forth inthe following specication andclaims. A

The various features of the invention are illustrated in theaccompanying drawing in which the figure is a vertical sectional view,partly in elevation, of a humidifier, embodying the preferred form of'our invention.'

The present invention embodiesan improved construction of the type ofapparatus shown in the application Seria-l No. 755,662, filed December13th, 1924, by Stuart W. Cramer, for humidifier, which resulted inPatent No. 1,564,949.I issued Dec. 8, 1925` and in application SerialNo. `756,421, tiled by us on December 17th, 1924, for humidilier. Thisimprovement embodies the use of a pair of spaced disksfor atomizing thewater. It has been found that through the '10 improvement the mist ofwater which is thrown from the apparatus into the. surroundingatmosphere is composed of particles of Sufficient vfineness to beentirely evaporated therein, and that the particles of supported fromthe roof R by means water which are too large to ybe so evaporated areretained within the apparatus, and returned to either the suppl or tothe waste, as the case may be. An o jectionable wetting and consequent'damp floor below the apparatus are'thus avoided. j

By means of the improved construction of double diaphragm inco-operation with the wall of the supply tank the diaphragm on belngrotated about its axis will create two local drafts 'or streams of air,one drawn from the atmosphere on top of the 'diaphragm which will bethrown outwardly over the top of the diaphragm into the surroundingatmosphere, andv the other drawn from the atmosphere-within the tank 'uwardlythrough the tubular portion extendmg from the diaphragm to thewater supply and leading to -the space between the two vplates formingthe double diaphragm, then radially through this space, then deflecteddownwardly into and to the bottom ,of the tank by means of the inclinedperipheral edges or lips depending from each diaphragm plate,again-passing upwardly to the center of the space between they diaphragmplates, and so on, continuously during the rotation of the diaphragm.Referring more particularly to the drawings, M is a motor, and F is apropeller fan, '.1` 1`s a hat shaped copper tank placed in an invertedposition, the motor and tank being of preferably four depending hangers62 (onel not shown), suitablybolted to the roof at 63. The foot ofy eachhanger is boltedv at 64 tothe upper end of a su porting bar 65, whichbar is inturn suitab y securedv by bolts 66 te the casing of the motorM.v The flanged s1de or bottom of the hat-shaped copper tank T restsupon the bars 65 and is Secured between the feet of the hangers 62y andthe upper ends of the bars 65 by -the aforesaid bolts 64.

The supply tral aperture at the ing which is an up-turned rounding andconcentrically tank is provided with a cenbottom thereof, b'orderlange10. -Surdisposed to said yflange 10 is an up-turned flange 11, thereby.formlng within the flanges` and the of the tank an inner water Suppllytank or 105 bottom compartment 12. The water at bottom l of the tank,except that within the inner supplyl tank or compartment 12, is wasteand is delivered yfrom the tank through the waste pipe W, which ispreferablr provided with a valve V. A supply 1pe provided with a' valveV, exten s t rough the side wall of the tank T into the inner supplytank 12 through its outer wall 11, all as clearly shown. i

The motor shaft 15 has splined to |t a thimble fitting 16, which isprovided with a flange 17. suitably secured to the upper dlsc or plateof the double diaphragm structure by means of a series of bolts 18. Thethimble fitting 16, which is fitted over the ,upper portion of the motorshaft 15,- is

secured in place by the head of a screw b olt 19, as clearly shown, theshank of which operatively engages a screw-threaded cavity y 21 in thetop of the motor shaft 15.

The lower disc 30 of the double diaphragm structure isv secured to theupper disc by means of the aforesaid series of bolts 18, and a secondseries of bolts 28, each of which is provided with a similar shapedspacer element 22, the'height of which measures the distance between thetwo discs forming the double diaphragm. The lower plate 30 of the doubledisc diaphragm is provided with a. central opening 31, and secured tothe edge of this opening is a cylindrical element 32 which is flanged atits upper end by means of which it is secured to the lower disc 30 bybolts or rivets'33. A passage is thereby formed through the element 32from the inner supply tank to the space between the diaphragm plates ordiscs.

The outer surface of the element 32 is cylindrical whereas the innersurface is frusto-conical, the base of the cone being co-extensive withthe opening 31 at the center of the lower disc 30.

The inner surface of the wall of the tank T is provided with a series ofcorrugations 35 spaced outwardly from, and extending 45 @above and belowthe peripheral edges of the plates or discs forming the doublediaphragm. Each of the discs or plates 20 and 30' are bent at its`periphery to form a depending flange or lip. These anges or` lips areparallel to each other and each extends towards the Wall of the tank atsuch an angle that the elements of generation yof the flanges and of thewall of the tank, are at approximate right angles to each other so thatwater thrown' radially outward will tend to strike the corrugatedportion 35 at an approximate right angle. The structure embodying ourinvention having been described, its operation. and function willnow beset forth.

Upon energizing the motor by closingthe electric circuit a powerfuldraft of the surrounding ar will be produced by the propeller fan F andsent upwardly .against the bottomv of the copper tank T, and thelowersurface of its upper flange 40. It will thus spread and be extendedoutwardly radially into the surrounding atmosphere, all as indicated bthe lar re heavy arrows.- At the same time, t e doub e dise will rotateabout its axis and will create thereby two local drafts or streams of'air, one will be drawn from the air immediately above the disc and willpass by centrifugal force radially outwardly over the upper surface ofthe disc against the corrugations 35 and continue upwardly and outwardlyuntil it is'rnerged with the aforesaid pro eller-created strong draft ofair, as indicate by the' arrows in broken lines.

' The second local draftv of air will be drawn from the air in thebottom of the copper tank and pass upwardlythrough the tubular extension32, passino` outwardly in the space between the two iscs and downwardlybetween the bentk peripheral flanges of the aforesaid discs, and thusdownwardly` into the tank, which,fupon continual rotationl of the discscomprising the double diaphragm, will' create a continuously-movingcurrent of air, as above described, all as indicated by the arrows in'solidbut light lines. The water will be supplied to the inner tank 12,through the supply pipe, so that it barely immerses the lower edge ofthe depending tube 32. Upon therotation of the diaphragm about its axisdue to the operation of the motor the'water seal against the lower endof the tube 32 will be broken, if, in fact, a real seal ever-exists atall, and a film of waterwill be caused to-rise along the inner conicalsurface of the depending tube, and will pass outwardlyv byvcentrifugalaction through the -space between the discs, and in its passage willstrike the spacer blocks 22, and will then continue outwardly betweenthe flanged lips'v and downwardly on to' --thev corrugations 35, therebybeing broken into a mist, the parti-` cles of which vary in fineness. Atthe same vtime the outwardly flowing local drafty of air passes radiallyacross the .upper surface of the upper disc, and this local draft of airwill take up the very fine particlesof water at the periphery of thediaphragm and carry this fine mist on over thel edge of the tank outinto the propeller created outwardly moving, forceful draftA of normallyconitioned air, for i dissemination into and evaporation by thesurrounding atmosphere. It will be apparent that'the .film carriedoutwardly over the surface of the plate 30' and thrown from this platewill strike the downturned rim of the upper plate 20 at an angle andwill then be deflected downwardly `and outwardly in approximately a.right angle 'to the corrugated surface 35,

thus insuring an impact that will most effectively break up the film ofwater into the v finest particles, andwill not cause these particles-orthe larger particles to be projected 'upwardly with very great velocityinto the atmosphere abovev the plate. Should the V- between theflangesof the disc and will be immediately engaged by the-local draft orstream of air indicatedby the solid but lighter arrows, which will carrythe drops back either into the waste or perchance some of them may becarried over'into the inner supply tank 12, but, in either event,

' these drops are thus prevented from being splashed over the edge ofthe tank with the resulting dropping upon the floor beneath the tank.

The water is supplied to the inner tank l2 in such proportions to theamount used that the upper surface of the water therein takessubstantially the form shown in th'e drawing when the humidifier is inoperation.

As'changes of construction could be made within the scope ofourinvention, it is intended that all the matter contained in the abovedescription or shown in. the accompanying drawings be' interpreted asillustrative and not in a limiting sense.

Having thus described our invention,what we claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. Apparatus of the t-'ype described which comprises a'lower horizontalrotating difk, a tube depending from said 'disk and having an opening tothe upper surface of said disk concentric with the axis of rotation ofsaid disk, means for supplying Water to said tube, an upper disk mountedslightly above 'said rotating disk and having the 'edge turneddownwardly at an angle and extending below the plane of said lower disk,whereby water thrown from the edge of said lower disk will strike thedown-turned edge of the upper-disk at an angle and4 be deflectedoutwardly therefrom in a thinlilm.

2. Apparatus of the type described which comprises alowerhorizontalrotating disk,

a tube depending from said disk and having an opening in said diskconcentric with the axis of said disk and Openingonto the v uppersurface of said disk, an upper disk spaced slightlyI above said rotatingdisk and having an edge turned downwardly at an angle and extendinglower disk, means for supplying water through said tube to the uppersurface of the lower of said disks whereby water supplied to the uppersurface of the lower of said disks and thrown outwardly from said lowerdisk strikes the down-turned edge of said upper disk at an angle ofincidenceand is defiected downwardly therefrom, and a common rotatingsupport for said disks.

such streams will be spread in a film' below the plane of saidv edepending from said disk and liavingV face against which said deflectedwater' strikes at approximately a right angle.

4. Apparatus of the type described which comprises, a pan having flaringwalls, an annular corrugated surface on the upper face of said wall, andmeans for drawing water from said pan and throwing it centrifugallyoutwardly,a deflecting surface for deflecting said centrifu'gally thrownwater downwardly and outwardly against said corrugated surfacc by impactat an angle with said defiecting surface, and means for circulating airupwardly from'said pan thence outwardly tosaid-corrugated surface anddownwardly to said pan. n

v5. Apparatus of the type described which comprises, a panhavingfoutwardly and upwardly flaring walls, -afpair of spacedhorizontal plates the outer edges of which terminate a short distancefrom said daring walls, the upper of said horizontal plates having itsedge inclinedfdownwardly and outwardlytherefrom at' an angle to reflectli uid thrown from said lower plate against sald upwardly .flaring wall,a central tubev depending from the central portion of the lower of saidplates, means for supplying liquid to said depending tube, and means forrapidly rotating-said plates and tube about the axis of said tube.

6. Apparatus of the type described which comprises, a pan having anoutwardly and upwardly flaring outer wall, a central annular inner wallextending upwardly from said pan, a motor and fan'mounted beneath saidpan and having a shaft projecting upwardly through said'. centralannular inner wall, a pair of horizontal spaced lates mounted on theupper end of said sha t and extendingto within a short distance of saidflaring wall, and a central tube depending from the lower of said spacedplates and encircling said upwardly projecting shaft.

' er end of said shaft and extending to Yit 1n a short distance of saidHaring wal d a central tube depending from the lo ver of said spacedplates and encircling said upwardly projecting shaft.

8. Apparatus of the type described which comprises, a pan having anoutwardly and upwardly Haring outer wall, a central annular wallextending upwardly from said pan, a motor and fan mounted beneath saidpan and having a shaftprojecting upwardly through said central annularinner wall, an

` annular corrugated surface near the upper edge of said Haring wall, apair of horizontal spaced plates mounted on the upper end of said shaft,a tube depending from the central portion of the lower of said platesand dipping intoy said pan about said shaft, and an annular wall in saidpan forming a central cup receiving the lower end of said tube, andmeans for supplying Water to said cup and for drawing olli water fromthe annulaiI space about said cup.

9. Apparatus of the type described which comprises, aV pan having`upwardly and outwardly flaring walls, a central opening in its bottomwall, a central annular flange about said central opening of said pan,to p revent escape of water through said opening, a

motor and fan mounted beneath said pan and having a shaft projectingupwardly through said annular flange, a pair of 'horizontal spacedplates mounted on the upper end of said shaft and extending to vwithin ashort distance of said Haring walls, the outer edges of said platesbeing turned angularly downwardly to within ashort distance-of saidoutwardly flaring walls, and means for supplying astream of Watercentrally between said horizontal plates.I

10. A method of humidifying air which comprises projecting a flat sheetof water radially outwardly from a central position by centrifugalforce, Vflattening and deecting said stream of water sharply downwardlyand outwardly, breaking said detlecting sheet of waterlinto ne particlesby impact, permitting the heavier of said particles to settle out bgravity while permitting the lighter oty said particles to riseupwardly, and causing a slight circulation of air outwardly with saidwater, then downwardly to sweep said heavier, settling particles fromsaid lighter particles.

1].` method of humidifying air which comprises generating a blast of airand deflecting and spreading said blast of air radially outwardly,projecting an annular body of water radially outwardly by centrifugalforce, flattening and sharply def'lecting said annular stream of waterand breaking it in to fine particles by impact out of contact with saidspreading blast of air, permitting the hea-vier of said particles tosettle downwardly and the lighter particles to move into said spreadingblast of air, and creating a circulation of air outwardly with saidcentrifugally projected water, thence downwardly to sweep the larger,settling particles of water from the lighter particles.

STUART W. CRAMER. WILLIAM B. HODGE.

